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Monday, June 4, 2012

Raspberry Lemonade Slice

I knew that this May was all panning out too well not to come with some sort of price. Everything was in my favour until the last day, when I found out that I had some sort of malware warning coming up when anyone tried to visit the page though the internet browser Chrome. I had no idea what malware even was, how it got there and what on earth I was going to do about it. It was deterring visitors and scaring the heck out of me since reading a post earlier that day about blog hijacking. It will never happen to me, I thought. Anyway, it didn't get that serious that I lost control of my page or anything, but there was apparently some evil content on my page coming through the site that hosted the picture for my blog background, Shabby Blogs. So after lots of panicking and hasty researching, I came up with a solution. Delete everything connected to that wormy site! Htmls, everything had to go. Now the problem seems to have disappeared, sadly with the pretty little blog design that was the skin of Lick The Spoon. So that's the explanation for the little facelift that the blog has undergone in the last few days.
But the recipes keep on churning out! If you've been following for a while, you'll be seeing a bit of a theme going on here. I get quite thrilled by colour when it comes to food, and like a bull, excited by red. Actually I recently heard that bulls can only see blue and yellow, and that movement is what excites them...but...you get my point. If you've been in my kitchen you will see splashes of red appearing too. There's just something about that colour.
So when I decided to buy some frozen raspberries, that made me go on a mad raspberry recipe hunt, and my eyes were instantly drawn to this vivid raspberry lemon slice.
My hubby doesn't like berries like I do, and I think it's mainly to do with the seeds that tend to sneakily linger in your teeth after devouring them. Especially raspberry seeds. Those little demons can hang around for a while and make you look pretty demented as you try to remove them. Well have no fear, all the seeds are removed from this delicious slice. I call it a slice, but as soon as I cut into it, a million ideas were pulsating through my brain. To me this is a wonderfully versatile recipe as far as sweets go, just depending on how you cut it and decorate it. You can cut it into a slice or squares for a casual affair, or make them fancy petits fours simply by cutting them into 2x2 inch squares, and topping them with a raspberry. If you cut them into long rectangles you could serve it as an elegant dessert, with a pretty garnish of mint, raspberry and a drizzling of cream. This slice freezes well too, so it is a perfect make ahead dessert for your up and coming dinner party menu. A no stress yet impressive dessert sounds pretty good to me. And it's practically guilt free too!
The filling has a similar texture to lemon curd that has set (as you often find in lemon meringue pies once cooked) and has that same delightful tartness, combined with the subtle raspberry flavouring and a lovely simple buttery base. It reminds me somewhat of Starburst lollies. Fruity and tangy! I think I will try this filling inside a meringue pie. How does Raspberry Lemon Meringue Pie sound to you? Makes me start craving. Keep your eyes open for the recipe!

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line and grease a 8x8 inch square baking dish.
To
make the crust, cream together butter and sugar until light. Add the
flour, vanilla and salt and mix until combined well. Do not over mix as this can make the
base tough. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared
baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just golden brown. Remove
from oven and cool.

To make the filling, place all thawed raspberries in a fine sieve
and press them into a large bowl with the back of a spoon. Discard the
caught seeds and skin. Add the sugar, juice, zest, whites, egg, flour and salt and combine, until well incorporated.
Pour
the raspberry mixture onto the base and place in the oven. Bake for
30-35 minutes. Cool on the bench before placing in the refrigerator to set
completely (about 3-4 hours) Cut and decorate as desired.

NOTES: This slice freezes well and makes a great dessert or afternoon tea to have handy for unexpected guests or dinner parties.

OMG! you've left me speechless...these are absolutely astonishing! Indulgence at it's best...ok, not completely speechless. I will definitely be making these for sure. Thank you for sharing your recipe :)

I found this post though Pinterest. The photo was so beautiful that I just had to come here to read the recipe! Love it! And love your site :-).

I would like to invite you to share this post (and your other posts :-) ) on a new photo based recipe sharing site that launched in May. The idea is simple: all recipe photographs are published within minutes of submission. And, of course, the images link back to the author's site.

It's called RecipeNewZ (with Z) - http://recipenewz.com

I hope you get a chance to visit and to share some of your delicious posts with our viewers. It would be a pleasure to have you on board :-)

These look absolutely delicious would love to share an image and place a link back to your recipe on my blog. I have a weekly post where I share inspiration from around the blogasphere. A recent post you can see at the link below:

You're so interesting! I don't believe I've read through something like that before. So wonderful to find someone with genuine thoughts on this topic. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This site is something that's needed on the internet, someone with a little originality!Feel free to visit my website ... Paddypower

Louise, these look amazing! Somehow, you manage to make this look both adorable and elegant, which is rather an impressive feat! May I ask... in the "fancy it up with a garnish" picture, you piped out a small dollop of white cream behind the raspberry, and I'm curious what type of cream it is, as it seems to be firm enough to retain its shape. I would really like to try making these this weekend! Thank you for creating such a lovely blog! =)

Hi Jane, thanks for popping by with a question! The cream behind the raspberry is what we call thickened cream here, and I've whipped it into thick peaks. I'm guessing you could do thick with any type of cream such as double cream etc. I'm so glad you like the presentation! be sure to pop back after the weekend and let me know how you liked them!

sorry annon, I seem to have missed seeing a few of these comments, and I'm guessing its faaaaaar too late now to be of any help to you. just in case anyone else is having this problem though, I would say that the slice was not cooked for long enough. The centre should be a bit giggly but still dry to touch on top, and will firm up in the refrigerator if cooked for long enough.

Whoa, these look delicious. I'm making them right now and am a bit concerned that my flour in the raspberry mixture is clumpy. Any advice for flour buying? Seems strange to bite into a little ball of flour. Thanks!

hope I can get an answer quick! I am making this right now for Thanksgiving tomorrow and I was wondering about the thawed raspberries. should I have 2 1/2 cups after I run them through the sieve or before? Because after I have a little over a cup left. Is that ok?

hi there! thanks for your question. Its 2 1/2 cups of raspberries before even processing them. you will end up with less than 2 1/2 cups of puree, and less again once youve strained out the seeds and skin remnants. You can add more raspberries if you desire, but I found this quantity sufficient. hope this helps!

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I made these for my daughter's wedding shower, they were a big hit. I wanted to let you know that I made them vegan by eliminating the egg and substituting 2 Tbsp corn starch + 2 Tbsp water for each egg and omitting the flour. They turned out beautifully. Love them <3

what can I say? your pictures captured me and after having your blog open on my desktop for 3 days, I made the pie. Wonderful! Smells and tastes like summer. I really loved it. Made one as is and one with a baked meringue top. Both got great reviews. thanks!http://balicravings.wordpress.com/

Wow, these look so delicious! I really want to make these but before starting I have a couple questions to ask. When you say to line and grease a 8x8 pan, do you mean to line with parchment paper, than grease it with cooking spray? Thanks, love your blog!

thanks for your question annon. Youre correct, the pan is to be lined with baking paper (or parchment paper)I usually spray it with a bit of oil or swipe a bit of butter over the pan first so it holds in place better. good luck and let me know how it all goes!

This looks delicious, I cant wait to make these for an upcoming baby shower. One question, can you make a double batch in a bigger pan or does it not set up right? I have to make enough for 40 people so just trying to make it efficient. Thanks!

Thanks for your question Katlyn, I'm so sorry I didnt get back to you earlier, I must not have seen your comment somehow until now. I would definitely recommend making each batch separately, just to be on the safe side with the top setting. The top will be giggly when you remove it from the oven and firm up, but I'm not sure how it would go with a larger surface area. better safe than sorry I say!

I just made these for my mom and sisters as a beginning of summer treat, and they loved them! The consistency was perfect, they taste so fresh and summery, and they're just so pretty. My mom asked for the recipe and I think these are going to be a new family staple. Thanks!

These were very good on a hot summer day- tasted just like raspberry lemonade in a bar form! A few things I would tweak for next time would be to reduce the amount of lemon juice slightly; they were a little too tangy for me. Also, my crust wasn't as thick as it is in the pictures. However, the crust was absolutely perfect. Lastly, the bars in the center of the pan were a little underdone. Next time I will bake it closer to the 35 minute mark. But overall a great recipe!

hi there, thanks for dropping by! the cubes are easy, you just have to cut them smaller. i recommend refrigerating before cutting, and gently making indentations with the knife blade on the top before cutting, so you get perfect squares. between cuts, you can clean any residue off the blade so you get the cleanest cuts. i have not tried it on this in particular, but i find that dipping the knife in hot water before cutting makes for very clean cuts (works particularly well with cheesecakes.) good luck! i'd love to gear how it turns out for you!

I cant wait to try this as I love all things "raspberry', belong to a group of Brits here in Va, they will love it. We have been taking tea on Sunday afternoons since 1972 We just love to have a good cuppa & a good old chin wag